Jamie Lee Curtis Clarifies Her SAG-AFTRA Strike Comments Amid Backlash

Actress Jamie Lee Curtis is in a bit of hot water for some comments that she made about the SAG-AFTRA strike and she’s not the only one.

“Arrow” actor Stephen Amell recently walked back comments when he said that he was against striking. “Shazam!” star Zachary Levi also faced backlash after referring to the strike parameters as “so dumb.”

Now, the “Halloween” star is facing criticism for her own comments that she made about the actor’s strike.

On August 3, Variety spoke to the “Everything, Everywhere, All At Once” actress at Project Angel Food’s groundbreaking ceremony for The Chuck Lorre Family Foundation Campus in Los Angeles. The 64-year-old actress said that she had “no idea” when the strike would end but remained “hopeful” that AMPTP (The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) and the actors union would be able to find common ground.

“I’m hopeful that we can all see all sides. I’m more Switzerland. I’m not a polarized person here. I don’t like the rhetoric on both sides,” she said. “Any settlement means nobody’s happy. So there will be a settlement and not everyone will be happy.”

“I don’t like the them vs. us. The fact that there’s a them and an us bothers me,” she continued. “It’s one industry and I hope that all of the sides can recognize the oneness of our industry, and that we are interdependent, and that AI is not interdependent, that human beings are and at the end of the day our interdependency with each other will prevail.”

At the same event, the “Freaky Friday” actress also spoke to Reuters and said, “I hope that I can be Switzerland in all this,” maintaining her neutrality. "The issues are real, and my hope is that no one will be happy with a settlement, but we will get back to work," she said. "That's just the nature of a settlement — both sides aren't happy."

She went on to say, "We're all gonna have to give up something to get something, and I hope that what we get to do, ultimately, is continue our work." Many fans were not happy with her statement and quickly took her to task online. Over the weekend, the "Knives Out" actress took to Instagram in order to "clear up any confusion" in an Instagram post explaining her stance on the SAG-AFTRA strike.

The Oscar-winning actress later took to Instagram to clear up confusion about her previous comments. “On Thursday I attended a beautiful charity event celebrating the groundbreaking for the new campus of @projectangelfood and I was inevitably asked about the strike and I made a comment about wanting to be like Switzerland,” she wrote in the caption. “All of a sudden the clearly desperate news cycle machine is all over me to clarify those comments.”

“HERE THEY ARE! I FULLY SUPPORT the @sagaftra strike, have volunteered making signs multiple times and have donated to the relief fund. I SUPPORT the leadership and SUPPORT our demands. I'm a rank-and-file union member,” she continued. “I am not on any negotiating committee. I believe we have to look at all sides in any conflict in order to find resolution, solution and a fair and equitable settlement. Can we end this now and not turn this into some ridiculous news cycle story AND GET BACK TO THE TABLE AND NEGOTIATE?”

It should be noted that the “True Lies” actress has been vocally supporting the SAG-AFTRA strike on her Instagram page. In one Instagram post that she shared on Saturday morning, she shared a sign from the picket line that said, “Today’s secret word is… STRIKE.”

In the caption, the “Anything But Love” Golden Globe winner wrote, “WHAT DO WE WANT? A FAIR CONTRACT! WHEN DO WE WANT IT? NOW!” She also tagged @sagaftra, @sagaftrafound, and @wgawest at the end of her caption.